Hellbound
by Kahlam
Summary: Karakura town is finally enjoying is long and lasting peace. Everyone are content seniors, getting ready for college. Shinigami and Soul Society have now experienced peace since Aizen's downfall. But it doesn't last forever does it? A sinner has escaped hell, a guardian is after him. This is bound to throw Soul Society and Karakura town into chaos once more. (Unfinshed)
1. Prologue

I couldn't fit this into the summary so I'll just say it here. This story would probably make more sense if you've watched the Bleach Movie, Hell Verse. Oh and there may be slight Hitsugaya/Karin or Ichigo/Rukia in future chapters. Although the story is not centered around romance. (Or Karin)

* * *

The loud thunder boomed, shaking the very core of hell. All the sinners were running around in chaos. Hell had been in chaos before, it was always in chaos. But this chaos meant something even more. Something very bad was happening.

In between the loud pauses of thunder, hell was eerily silent. Almost as silent as midnight. Everyone was terrified. Some people were trying to be hopeful. Others were shaking and trembling fear. No one dared to speak for breaking the silence would only have made things worse. Doom was sure to come. That message was very clear. Perhaps fate would finally destroy them once and for all.  
The most terrifying thing of all, was the fact that not one Kushanada was in sight. On a normal day, this would have been a miracle for sinners. But today, it meant only the worst was to come. Nothing was normal about this day. Nothing at all. Thunder was booming from hell. That wasn't supposed to happen, ever. The Kushanada were no where to be found. Even those that had lost all ability to think could tell there was something horribly wrong.  
After a few, long and agonizing hours the thunder finally fell silent. Only instead this time, it didn't start up again after a minute or so. All was quite and silent. Minutes later, the sinners began whispering amongst themselves.  
"Is the earth ending?"  
"It's the apocalypse. . ."  
"Maybe hell is crumbling!"  
"No, something is horribly gone awry."  
"Something must've gone against the laws of hell!"  
"Do you think maybe someone broke free from their chains?"  
"Don't be stupid. Nothing can break these chains."  
"Then why is it so wrong here? You can feel it, I can feel it. Something in the air is wrong. It just isn't right."

A deep rumbling sound came from within the depths of hell. All sinners fell silent once more, holding their breath. The ground groaned and shook. Was it an earthquake in hell?  
Finally, a high-pitched roar rose. It was more sinister than an animal-sounding hollow. It was much more sinister than the roar of a savage beast as it lunges towards your neck. All the sinners screamed in agony. Screaming with the beast from within hell. Every single sinner lifted their hands in unison and covered their ears. The terrible things that only they could understand from the beast made them want to die, gone forever. They wanted to become the crushed sand of sinners.  
All the sinners cried out, curling up into the fetal position and held tightly to their ears. Some of their ears even began to bleed from the roar of the beast.  
Finally, at last the roaring stopped. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. No one knew what was happening. No one knew what that beast was. But one thing they all did know, was that a beast had awoken from its deep slumbers within the chambers of hell.  
At last, the beast opened it's eyes, and shut it's mouth. It slowly began to awaken. It was nearly impossible to see it in the darkness. The beast was within the very core, the center of hell. Slowly, it folded in it's red crimson wings, stepping in out of it's little cocoon it had encased itself in. For the first time ever, it had folded in it's bat-like wings, and woke up.

The beast's eyes were completely black. Devoid of any emotion at all. It's face looked like a pale woman's with long and black flowing hair sprouting from the scalp. The hair reached down all the way to it's feet. Two long horns stuck out on top of it's head.  
She yawned as if waking from a little nap. Her teeth were sharp, sharper than a knife. She looked down at her naked body and frowned. Holding out her hand upwards, the ground above rumbled a bit. Then a sinner, bound in chains came shooting through. Dust flew everywhere as she came flying straight into the beast's hands.  
The sinner looked into those black eyes, terrified. She was being held by the throat. "P-P-please...d-d-don't," the woman stuttered. "I've seen your sins. Your wrongs. Suffer once more." A long tail unraveled from the woman, or demon, whatever she was. The tail was long and slender with a little sharp arrow as the tip for it. The arrow pierced the sinner, straight into the heart. Or at least, where the heart used to be.

The sinner screamed, screamed and writhed in pain she had never known before. She was relieving every single sin she had done. Relieving the guilt and agony. The agony of killing her own son when she had been alive.  
After a minute or two, the sinner finally stood open mouthed, gaping. Her soul and spirit had finally crumbled at last. Her body then turned into sand, slipping through the beast's fingers. All that was left was the white piece of clothing.  
The beast then put on the white clothing. Satisfied, she had decided it was time to do her job. She roared once more, making every sinner cower. "WHO DARES AWAKEN MY SLUMBER!" she screamed in a deep, demonic voice. Her wings shot out, and then she crashed through. She flew through every single layer of hell, leaving behind the core.  
She was ignited by fury and rage. The only emotions she could feel. But she had a purpose. A reason for existing. Or else there would be no reason she would've been made at all.  
Finally, she shot through the last layer of hell. The outer core. She roared and screeched. "SINNERS! VILE! SCUM! SUFFER ONCE MORE!" The sinners cried out in agony. Every single one of them. This was much more than what the Kushanada had put them through. The pain they felt was spreading through out their very bodies. Taking over their mind.

She flapped her wings, glaring at the sinners from above. The sinners below were crying. Crying for what they had done. Even those that had no feelings of guilt were crying now.  
She chuckled as she looked at them. Obviously satisfied now, she turned around. Looking at the sky with a frown, she held up her hand. Red crimson lighting shot down, striking it.  
When the smoke cleared, in her hand was a sword. It had a black hilt with a red sheath. Negative energy was all that poured from the cursed blade. Clucking her tongue, she lifted her tail and struck at the air. Not blindly, no. She was making a portal to the real world.

Finally, she stopped and the small little square she had marked began to shine. Once the small square in the sky crumbled, leaving an open portal she took one last glance at the sinners. She roared, "SCUM MUST NOT ESCAPE. SCUM MUST BE PUNISHED." After that, she finally walked through the portal. As she did, two black broken chains appeared on her wrists. She looked at them with a frown. "No matter how broken they appear, I am and always will be hellbound."


	2. Encounter with the Akuma?

-Ichigo-

The scream of a hollow ripped through the air as an orange-haired shinigami sliced it through. "One hollow down," he muttered. Sighing, he placed his sword, Zangetsu behind his back.

"Ichigo!" cried Orihime from below. "Hm?" he glanced down, spotting Orihime with Ishida and Chad. Quickly, he flash-stepped to their side and looked up at them. "Hey guys," was all that came from him. "So, how are you Ichigo?"  
"I'm alright. How about you guys?"  
"We're fine, Kurosaki-kun," Ishida said as he pushed up his glaces. "Hm," came Chad's reply.

A loud thunder shook, catching the four of them by surprise. They looked up towards the sky to see it rolling with storm clouds. "That's odd. . .the sky was clear just a few minutes ago," Ichigo muttered. "It's just a thunderstorm Kurosaki-kun!"  
"Yeah. . .sure." The concerned teen frowned as he took one last glance at the sky before following his friends. The loud thunder continued, shaking the earth.

* * *

-Rukia-

"Emergency! Emergency!" A hell butterfly fluttered by, landing on Rukia's fingers. "All captains please report for a captain meeting. Lieutenants please report for the meeting as well." The petite soul reaper frowned. "A captain's meeting and a lieutenant meeting together? What's going on . . ." she murmured.  
"Hey. You got one to?" a passing red-hair said as he walked by. "Yeah. A captain's meeting and a lieutenant meeting. Somehow, I have a very bad feeling about this," Rukia said as she looked up from the butterfly. Both soul reapers looked at each other with a look of concern. This rarely happened in soul society. Usually all emergency meetings were done by captains. What could possibly have been so bad that it required a lieutenant's meeting as well?

-Everyone-

"Order!" the first captain, Genryusai Yamamoto called as he tapped his cane against the ground. "As you know, I've ordered an emergency meeting for both captains and lieutenants. This is a very big matter that needs to be handled. We can not wait for you captains to explain to your lieutenants and squads so therefore we are holding both meetings now." Behind each captain was their ever faithful lieutenants bowed down behind them with the exception of Yachiru. Everyone was thinking the same thing. The one question.  
What was so terrible it required a captains and lieutenant meeting?

"Now, every is familiar with hell correct? All sinners there are bound in chains, unable to escape. It seems that a sinner however has escaped." This earned everyone a gasp and shock on their faces. "A sinner escaped!? Impossible. . ." the tenth captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro muttered. "Oh my, this is troublesome," muttered Shunsui Kyoraku.  
"Silence!" Yamamoto ordered. "It is strictly forbidden for Soul Society to get involved with the affairs of hell. However, this is an exception. Captain Kurotsuchi if you would please explain." The maniac scientist stepped forward to face all the captains. "The Research and Development department monitors hell along with the prepcide world. One of my researchers noticed a powerful reiatsu spike in hell and we investigated it. It turns out, that a long-lost guardian of hell has awoken. It seems that it's sole purpose is to go after the sinner. We do not know if it will cooperate with us or oppose us. It has much more power than the Kushanda, much more power. Right now, it's whereabouts seem to be somewhere within Karakura town as that is where the sinner seems to have escaped to."

A tiny gasp came from Rukia and she bit her lip. "Ichigo . . . ," she thought to herself. Renji looked up slightly, glancing at Rukia. He noticed the concern on her face. She had every reason to be concerned.

Zaraki perked up at this. "Oh? It has more power than a Kushanda?" A look of disgust passed over Kurotsuchi's face. He muttered, "Barbarian."  
"Hmm? What was that? You picking a fight?"  
"I could beat a barbarian like you any day."  
"Stop that fightin' now. We all in danger and the residents of Karakura town to," Shinji said as he stepped up, intervening. It was obvious he was worried for Hiyori and maybe Ichigo to.

"Enough! Now, I've decided to dispatch those who know Karakura town best. "Kuchiki Rukia, Shinji, Abarai Renji and Hitsugaya Toshiro." Needless to say, everyone was surprised. This was not the usual group that was dispatched to the human world. "Dismissed."

* * *

-Ichigo-

"Man, that thunderstorm is still going on," Ichigo said with a sigh as he sat down. "Don't be so depressed Ichi-nii! I made curry," Yuzu said as she sat down his bowl. "Thanks Yuzu. Where's Karin?"  
"I'm here," Karin said with a yawn. She was all wrapped up in a blanket with an ice-pack on the top of her hair. Poor girl was sick with the flu.  
"Hello Karin-chan! I fixed you some chicken noodle soup!" Yuzu said in a cheery light-hearted tone, despite Karin's sickly and pale look. She looked like a walking zombie.

"Thank-you," she croaked and she slid slowly into her seat. "You should still be in bed," Ichigo frowned. "I'm fine Ichi-nii." A moment after Karin spoke, she sneezed into her soup. "Crap," she half-muttered, half-croaked. "It's so strange Karin. You never get sick," Yuzu said worriedly. "Haha. Guess I'm making up for all the years I haven't been sick."

Suddenly a loud and screeching roar rang in the ears of every resident in Karakura town. Well, only those that could sense things like hollows. Karin looked up at Ichigo expectantly. Even though he had never talked about it with her, she knew he was a shinigami. It was a subject left alone though, slowly forgotten.

"I'll be right back," Ichigo muttered as he ran towards his room up the stairs. Yuzu glanced at him with confusion, and then just shrugged it off, sliding into her sit next to Karin. "Ichi-nii sure does excuse himself a lot these days," the girl noted. "Yeah. He does doesn't he?" came the reply from the practically walking corpse.

* * *

The guardian of hell roared. Or rather, the Akuma. It roared and roared. Above Karakura town, it pierced the ears of the innocent. Most of the humans that could sense the beast and huddled into a ball and clutched to their bleeding ears. The Akuma was making itself known. Making the escaped sinner curl up, terrified.

"Hey!" Finally, she stopped roaring as a shinigami flash stepped in front of her, catching her attention. "Are you a hollow!" Ichigo shouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The demon narrowed her eyes. "Shinigami. Do not interfere with the affairs of hell! It is not your place!" she growled. Ichigo took a step backwards, suddenly frightened by the intense reiatsu coming from the woman.

"What are you doing in Karakura town?" he finally shouted after swallowing his fear. "That is none of your business. You will leave now you bug!" Quicker than lighting her tail lashed out, hitting Ichigo straight into the stomach. He flew backwards from the impact and fell towards the ground. "Oof!" A grunt of pain came from him as he hit the ground. Hard.

He was in the center of a large crater he had just made. He laid there, unable to move for a minute. After a couple of minutes, the pain receded just a little. He managed to crawl out of the crater and was now leaning heavily on a car. Short gasps of air was all he could do as he clutched his stomach. With a glare, he looked towards the woman who was still standing of Karakura town, scanning for the sinner. "What the hell is she!? Is she from hell? A sinner?" Thoughts raced in Ichigo's mind.

From that one blow, he could tell that he wouldn't be able to beat the Akuma in Shikai form. No way.  
"Bankai!" he shouted from behind the Akuma. With a whistle of the wind, he was in his black robes, holding his black zanpakuto. The Akuma turned around, looking at Ichigo. Clearly, she wasn't amused and annoyed.

"Scum. You're going to get yourself killed. I'll drag you down to hell!" With that, she lunged forward.

* * *

So, the first official chapter. ^.^ I hope it wasn't too bad. Oh and Akuma is (I hope) demon in japanese. Although I'm uncertain since I got the answer off of google. So, sorry for the lame name and yeah. I'd also love for some constructive crits :3 I also apologize if I made any of the characters a bit OC. I'm working on that.


	3. Fighting the Akuma!

Roaring, the Akuma lashed out with her tail, using it as a weapon. Ichigo quickly brought his sword up, blocking the tail. He frowned, glancing at her sheathed sword she held in her hands. "You not going to unsheathe your sword?" he shouted.

She glared at him. "I cannot waste my time on you shinigami pests!" she growled. She brought up her wrists that had two broken chains. "Those chains! They're from hell! So you are a sinner," he said, narrowing his eyes. The Akuma said nothing, she just glared at him.

Instead of lashing out with her tail once more, she curled her fists and then lunged towards Ichigo, intending to punch him. "Wha-" he jumped sideways with a grunt of surprise. "Cocky bastard!" She then whipped around, kicking her leg up and her foot smashed into the side of the his head. He quickly blocked it by bringing his arm up.

"Ahh!" he cried out in pain. His arm dropped limply to his side, soaked in blood. It was obviously broken. "What the hell?" he managed to croak out, shocked. "I said, I don't have time to waste on you shinigami pests! It's not your place to interfere with the matters of hell!" Clearly, she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo swung with his good arm, aiming straight towards the woman.

The guardian quickly dodged out of the way luckily. Unfortunately her hair wasn't. Her long hair that had come down to her feet was cut thanks to Ichigo. It now came to her mid-back. "Hm?" The demon twisted her neck around and saw her cut hair. She was not so mad at the simple fact that her hair had been cut. She was mad because he had been able to even touch her with his attacks.

"I'LL DRAG YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL AND TORTURE YOU FOR ETERNITY!" She shrieked.  
"It's too bad I've already been to hell and back!" Ichigo shouted back, releasing another black Getsuga Tensho. The Akuma's face turned from incredibly pissed off, to calm. Within a minute, she had collected herself. She then slid out her foot, getting into a fighter's stance.

"Drop your blade," she said, her voice firm and cold. Raising her hand, she stopped his Getsuga Tensho. "What? She stopped it barehanded? Impossible!" Ichigo muttered. He was even more terrified of her now.

"I said, drop your blade."  
"Shut the hell up!" he growled, shooting forward with a burst of speed. Ichigo swung his Zangetsu aiming straight for the Akuma's neck. She quickly raised her hand and grabbed his sword as it was inches away from her. Sighing, she looked up at him. They were face to face now.

The substitute shinigami was frozen in fear. All because of one simple attribute she had.  
Her eyes were black. Completely.

"What the hell. . . ."  
"It looks like you will not listen to me. I suppose I will have to kill you. Soul Society cannot blame me for your death. No, it was because you would not listen to me." She then lifted up her right foot and kicked him straight into the stomach.

With a grunt of pain, he skidded backwards only a little bit. He gasped for air, all the breath had been knocked out of him. The Akuma then held up her sheathed sword sideways. "Shinigami pest, I will see you in hell." She then proceeded to unsheathe her sword.

Ichigo nearly passed out from her extreme reiatsu. It was so dark and thick. Well, she was from hell so it made sense after all. The Akuma, faster than sonido appeared behind Ichigo. "What?" He had no time to think. He barely blocked her sword in time. "How is she so fast!?" he thought. "I see. You have some what skill," she said level-headedly. "Why. . . are you in Karakura town?"

The demon woman could only frown at this question. "Why? Why would I tell you shinigami pests? It does not involve you. It's hell's own problem." "Tell me what's going on!" he shouted. He was mad that this woman wouldn't tell him. He wouldn't tell him why and it was his damn town.

He raised his hand over his face. "I will beat the answer out of you!" he shouted before raking his hand across his face. His hollow mask appeared and his reiatsu sky-rocketed. The Akuma narrowed her eyes at him. "He is a shinigami. . . how is that possible?" she thought to herself.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he shouted as he sword his sword. Gasping, the guardian quickly moved out of the way. She was using something that was even faster than flash step or sonido. "What? His attacks got stronger after putting that mask on. . .But that's a hollow mask." The Akuma was clearly confused. After a moment of thought, she reached a conclusion.

"I see. You are not a shinigami. That is why you interfere with my mission. And that is why you attack me blindly. But it does not change the fact that you are an outsider."  
"Outsider my ass! You're the outsider here!" he roared, lunging forward.

Their two black swords connected and clashed. Images rushed through Ichigo's mind. He gasped softly. These were images before the beginning of time. He saw the very birth of the Akuma.

He was looking through the very eyes of the Akuma.

* * *

In the middle of a large and barren desert was the most unexpected thing. There was a little girl in the middle of the deserted land. She was curled up in a little ball, her big and red crimson wings protecting her from the sun. Her horns, barely poking out of the top of her hand and her tail was still, lying in the sand.

Minutes ago, she had been born. Not from a demon, no. But she had been born from the grand design of things. She had been born from completely utter despair and suffering. She was the very essence of pain. The very first guardian of hell had been born.

Yawning, she opened her eyes for the first time. "Hmm?" she slowly sat up, looking around. She took in the deserted land around her. "This is. . . hell." After looking around, she sat up completely on her knees. Wrapping her wings around her to keep her naked body warm, she thought. And thought.

The girl, who was the young Akuma, gave a big sigh. She knew what she was. She knew her purpose. Her purpose was to guard hell. It was to stop sinners from escaping. But she was not to awaken. Never, would she open her eyes until, until the very day that a sinner escaped. That is when she would finally wake up, and throw the world into chaos.

She knew all of this. She didn't know how she knew. She just _knew._  
With emotionless eyes, she scanned the desert. "Hmph. I hope hell is better when I wake up," she muttered to herself.

After scanning the desert, she laid down. Curled up into a little ball, she folded out her wings to protect herself. As she slept in her deep slumber for centuries, she would dream. She would dream of hell and it's changes. She would dream of Soul Society and the world of living. She would dream of Hueco Mundo. And then finally, she would dream of the sinner escaping. At last, she would wake from her slumber for the first time ever.

She was the first guardian of hell. She was higher than them all. Higher than the Kushanda. But that came at a price.  
No one would know her suffering. No one.

* * *

Distracted, Ichigo had lost his concentration for moment. The demon saw an opening and took it. She swung her black sword towards Ichigo's own and knocked it out of his hands.

His head jerked upwards as if waking up from a dream. Shocked, he let down his guard. It took a moment before he registered that Zanjestu had been knocked out of his hand. "Wha-" he quickly glanced down at saw his sword sticking straight out of the ground on a green hill. "Dammit!" he cursed under his breath. Just as he was about to flash step to his sword, the Akuma made her move.

She wrapped her tail around her sword, letting go of it with her hands. Using her tail, she slung it backwards into the sky. For a moment, the substitute shinigami was confused. But his confusion was wiped away as the sword stopped in mid-air, as if it hit something.

Suddenly the sword twisted like a key in a lock. A red aura started to envelop the sword and a tiny crack appeared in the sky.  
The crack stretched out until it finally gave away to a portal. A portal to hell.

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. "That portal is to hell! Are you planing on taking me there?!" he shouted.  
"Yes," came her swift reply. Her sword wriggled itself out of the portal, finally breaking free. It flew back, spinning towards the Akuma. She lifted her tail again, and caught the sword by the hilt with her tail.

Two chains shot out of the portal, towards the Akuma's own. They connected to her broken chains around her wrists. "I'll drag you down to hell! I've wasted enough time already with you!" She yelled.

She yanked the chains around her wrist, shaking them. As Ichigo turned his attention away from the portal and back to his sword, she grabbed her chain and yanked some of it out of the portal. It looked like it was long and endless, which it probably was. Beating her wings, she flew around Ichigo and wrapped both chains around him.

"Let me go!" he shouted angrily. "Sorry, I can't do that," the Akuma said with a glint in her eye.

"Ichigo!" shouted a very familiar black-haired lieutenant. He tore his gaze away from the Akuma and towards one of his best friends in the whole world. "Rukia!" he shouted. "Toshiro, Renji, Shinji!" he shouted, noticing the others behind Rukia. The four of them stepped out completely from the Senkaimon.

"Well, ya sure have gotten yer' self into quite the mess Ichigo," Shinji said, as they flash-stepped in front of Ichigo, drawing their swords. "And that's Captain Hitsugaya to you!" growled the annoyed Hitsugaya. "Tch Ichigo, you must be getting weak!" Renji smugly remarked with a smirk.

The Akuma growled. "More Shinigami pests! What part of don't interfere with hell don't you understand you damned Soul Society dogs!"  
"Sorry 'bout this. But when hell starts to interfere with the world of livin', we gotta interfere to," Shinji said casually.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Rukia asked worriedly.  
"I'm fine."

The Akuma hissed. "Soul Society dogs, please, stay out of my way!"  
"No can do!" Renji yelled. The Akuma stared daggers at them. With another hiss, she grabbed her sword out of her tail and slashed at the two chains, breaking them once more. The chains around Ichigo began to crumble and then fell completely.

Just as the chains fell, the Akuma turned around and flitted towards the portal to hell. Bringing her sword up, she then struck the portal. Once again, the sword turned like a key in a lock and the portal was abruptly closed.

"Soul Society dogs, I have no interest in you. Stay out of my way. Hell does not concern you whether in the world of living or not."  
The shinigamis narrowed their eyes suspiciously. Why was she cooperating now?

"I'll make you a deal. If you leave me alone and stay out of my way, I won't kill you or that hollow shinigami."  
"I'm sorry, but we can't do that," piped the tenth squad captain.

"Tch, a shame then. If you get in my away again, I'll kill you. Soul Society cannot get mad. It was because you wouldn't leave the affairs of hell alone. Maybe that'll send them the message."  
The Akuma then flash-stepped out of there. Perhaps even faster than flash-step.  
It probably wasn't even flash-step at all.

* * *

Ichigo sighed as he pulled his sword out of the ground. He then discarded his mask as he glanced up towards the four shinigami. "So, tell me what the hell was that all about?"  
"That was a guardian of hell. Soul Society stationed us here to keep an eye on her," Rukia replied as she sheathed her sword. "Why is a guardian of hell in the world of living? What about the Kushanda?"  
"She's even higher than the Kushanda," Renji said as he crossed his arms over his chest.  
"No way. . ." Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "I knew she was the first guardian of hell. But I didn't know she was higher than them."  
"That's not all. She's here because something has happened in hell."  
"What is it?"  
"A sinner has escaped."  
Ichigo gasped. His eyes widened. How was this possible? A sinner escaping hell? That was possible?  
"Impossible . . . ."

* * *

So here's the second chapter :3 I hope the fighting scene wasn't too bad.


	4. Author's Note

I've been thinking about deleting this story. I know it doesn't have many chapters but it just doesn't seem like a good story anymore. And I haven't gotten any reviews or anything. It's hard to do a story if no one is reading it.

So I'll probably delete it or mark it as incomplete.


End file.
